The demand was put up at the zonal railway users meeting, but the local authorities said it was found not feasible after a technical study and on the few count of passengers that would patronise it.
The Central Railway on Wednesday rejected the proposal to open a suburban railway station at Dharavi between Sion and Matunga. The demand was put up at the zonal railway users meeting, but the local authorities said it was found not feasible after a technical study and on the few count of passengers that would patronise it.
“Constructing an additional station is a subject under the purview of the railway board and zonal railways cannot decide on it. The demand was not considered because besides not having many passengers, it would give an additional halt and increase the time taken to cover the total journey between CST and Thane/Kalyan.
Moreover, the existing stations of Matunga and Sion are strategically placed and cater to the existing population properly,” an official said.
Subhas Gupta, member of the committee, who pushed for the proposal said that having a station at Dharavi would have helped the entire population between Sion and Matunga and that there had been demand from some quarters.
Gupta said that open space between Matunga and Sion stations could have been utilised for Dharavi station. “It could have been a one-platform station like Currey Road or Elphinstone, catering to only slow trains,” he added.
“The railway distance between Matunga and Sion is about 2.6km and the harbour line for Mahim passes through this section. A new station could have been set up on either side of the road over bridge near Dharavi,” a commuter said.
However, railway officials said there were issues like space and the costs are too high to open a station. “The investment would have been too huge,” an official remarked. Dharavi has also been the hot-spot of redevelopment with a number of projects lined up for upgrade of the entire area.
The latest station to come along the Central Railway main lines is at Nahur between Mulund and Bhandup stations.
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